Bowl a boom for BIIF football seniors

Life just got a whole lot easier for any Big Island Interscholastic Federation football player looking to play college ball and land a scholarship.

The Hawaii Football Club will host the inaugural HFC Life Champion Bowl on Dec. 6, showcasing players from all of the neighbor islands: Big Island, Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kauai.

The game will be streamed live on scoringlive.com to over 1,000 colleges (Division I, II, III, NAIA and junior colleges) through contacts from Doris Sullivan of the Pacific Island Athletic Alliance (piaahawaii.com), the state’s top recruiting center.

One of HFC president Keala Pule’s goals is to have every participating player, by the third year, to be immediately eligible to sign a college scholarship as soon as the game is over.

In that regard, he’s brought in former University of Hawaii player Kahanu Noa to run a college prep session prior to the game, explaining all the hurdles of the NCAA Clearinghouse.

The HFC Life Champion Bowl is somewhat similar to Oahu’s Hawaii Union Builders Goodwill Senior Bowl, which features seniors from the Oahu Interscholastic Association and Interscholastic League of Honolulu.

However, the Big Island’s bowl will feature college coaches running each team through well-known trainer Chad Ikei’s contacts. Ikei and Rich Miano, who runs Gridiron Performance Academy, will hold a combine for underclassmen before the game.

The combine will feature the same tests done by the NFL and most collegiate summer camps, tracking 40-yard dash, bench presses, shuttle runs and vertical. Results will be posted on gpafootball.com or scoringlive.com for college coaches to track.

The registration fee for each senior is $50, far below the price tag for a collegiate summer camp. It’s a relative bargain for exposure to so many colleges.

However, there is a big-time catch that could be costly to everyone.

All of the neighbor island players will be allowed to bring their high school team’s equipment. Only the BIIF has not agreed to that policy or a waiver that would allow a rental of the league’s equipment.

The Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I and II championships will be held Nov. 21 at Aloha Stadium. The football season will be long over on Dec. 6, when all of the equipment will be in storage.

HFC secretary Celeste Pule said because NCAA coaches are involved her organization is required to charge every bowl participant the same flat fee whether it’s $50 or much more.

If the BIIF comes around, potential profits from the HFC Life Champion Bowl would be used to establish a scholarship fund, according to a detailed financial budget from Celeste Pule.

And like Oahu’s Goodwill Senior Bowl, it’s a showcase for selected standouts. Interested players need to go through a selection committee, and each player is asked to provide a 60-second highlight video and a reference letter, basically, a summary from their high school head or position coach.

Keala Pule started the Hawaii Football Club in 2011, creating a tackle football league with no weight limits. From the start it was more than just about playing football.

An early inspirational source was former mayor Harry Kim. From there the Pule couple came up with the club’s motto: Where life champions are made.

It sounds almost too good to be true: A senior bowl showcase, where someone’s academic profile and game film can be scouted by more than 1,000 colleges.

Keala Pule believes that Dec. 6 is just the beginning.

“We want parents and people to know that college scholarship opportunities really do exist,” he said. “We have to find ways to raise academic standards, and parents need to know who they can contact when their kid is a senior.

“We want the families to get involved because they’re the ones who are going places. If one child from each bowl goes to college on a scholarship, it will be more than worth it.”

For more information, visit hfchilo.com or call 756-3837.